San Diego County

A two-hour high-speed chase that started in Huntington Beach and ended in northern San Diego County resulted in a woman's arrest and a hospital visit last week. Louise Best, 31, of Torrance, allegedly stole a 1993 Ford Expedition from a Long Beach residence and then led police on a chase into Northern San Diego County, said Lt. Chuck Thomas of the Huntington Beach Police Department. During a routine traffic stop at 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 11. near the intersection of Robinwood Drive and Bolsa Chica Road, police discovered Best in the stolen vehicle.

Send AROUND TOWN items to the Huntington Beach Independent, 18682 Beach Blvd., Suite 160, Huntington Beach, CA 92648; fax to (714) 965-7174; call (714) 965-7176 or e-mail at hbindy@latimes.com. Submissions must be received two weeks before publication. FRIDAY California Coastal Trail Expedition is offering the chance to people to participate in Coastwalkers and hike a few miles or a few days. Coastwalkers is a coalition dedicated to making the beaches accessible to the public.

Huntington Beach advances to the semifinals in Pop Warner play; next up is San Diego County champ.The Huntington Beach Pee Wee Division Green Chargers advanced to the Western United States regional semifinals by defeating the Escondido Storm, 34-14, at San Clemente High Saturday. The win moves Huntington into a Saturday noon semifinal with the San Diego County champions, the Mount Helix Running Rebels, at La Jolla Country Day High. Saturday's winner moves on to the regional championship game Nov. 26 in Murrieta.

Some of the top teams from three counties will converge on the football fields at Edison High School on Saturday to take part in a passing league competition called Battle at the Beach. Sixteen prep football teams will compete in the fourth annual event that will run the entire day, beginning at 9 a.m. "We have some great teams coming to our school, and there will be some excellent competition," Edison Coach Dave White said. "We have some of the county's top teams, as well as some top schools from San Diego and Los Angeles counties, in this tournament."

The North Huntington Beach Black boys Under-10 soccer team showed little signs of rust from a near four week layoff as they recently captured their third tournament championship of the season. By beating rival Long Beach United, 2-0, in the final, NHB won last weekend's Canyon Hills 2000 Soccer Invitational. It was the fourth meeting of the season between the two teams, and the Black has won all four. The fourth, as the previous three had been, was a down-to-the-wire affair, as Christian Ramirez scored a controversial goal past the Long Beach goalkeeper in the final three minutes, and Esteban Orejel scored on a penalty kick in the final minute.

This is not Katrina. We — Southern Californians, Orange County residents — are not surprised. We’ve seen this before (although, perhaps, not to this degree). We’ve felt the Santa Ana winds. We know about the drought conditions. They — from area officials to the governor to the president — have not denied, delayed or pointed fingers. And most importantly, our firefighters are performing tirelessly and heroically every step of the way. The wildfires that have engulfed Southern California from Santa Barbara County to San Diego County, and which include more than 18,000 acres of scorched earth in Orange County, are, to be sure, a tragedy of epic proportions.

City Council members did not discuss plans to replace Huntington Beach’s city administrator at their meeting this week, but are expected to do so later this month. City Administrator Penny Culbreth-Graft said Friday she had just accepted a job offer as city manager of Colorado Springs, Colo. She was one of three finalists for the position, including the city’s interim city manager. Culbreth-Graft must give 60 days notice to leave, making her last day of work Jan. 2. Her new job begins Jan. 7. City Council members have said they knew for quite some time that she was looking to move on. Culbreth-Graft’s move to the bigger city isn’t for a bigger salary, which will actually drop $16,000 to $210,000 a year in the new position.

The Marina High boys' water polo team won its 16th match in 17 outings this season and, in doing so, captured the Villa Park Classic championship. The Vikings won the 32-team tournament title on Saturday by taking two matches. First, they outscored host and No. 2 seed Villa Park, 12-8, in a semifinal match. They then won the tournament with a 9-6 victory over No. 4 seed Carlsbad in the final. Marina previously edged defending classic champion, The Bishop's of La Jolla, in a tense quarterfinal match, 9-8. Michael Pacheco scored in the final minutes to lift the Vikings, who were led by Rory Kelly's three goals.

It couldn't have been a better report card for City Administrator Penny Culbreth-Graft's annual performance review. Council members gave an overwhelming vote of confidence to Culbreth-Graft, 48, who joined the city in 2004 from Riverside. "Well, she's still our administrator," said Councilwoman Cathy Green. "It just seems that everything is moving forward," she said about ongoing projects in the city, including Pacific City, the Strand and the completion of the first phase of Bella Terra.

The Huntington Beach High girls' basketball team traveled to San Diego County on Wednesday for the opening round of the CIF State Southern California Regionals Division 1 tournament and returned to Surf City later than night with an impressive victory. The Oilers took on CIF San Diego Section Division 1 champion San Diego and crushed the host Cavers, 71-51, to advance to Saturday's second round. Huntington (26-5) jumped out to a 20-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and was in front, 38-27, at the half.

Execution played a key role Tuesday for the Edison High boys' water polo team which picked up a big victory at Beckman. The Chargers cruised to a big halftime lead and took a seven-goal advantage into the fourth quarter where Coach Diggy Riley inserted his second unit. They maintained their lead and came away with a 12-10 win. Edison, which improved to 2-0, took a 7-2 lead at the half and were up, 10-3, heading into the fourth quarter. Justin Harrison led all scorers with six goals.

The Huntington Beach High girls' basketball team traveled to San Diego County on Wednesday for the opening round of the CIF State Southern California Regionals Division 1 tournament and returned to Surf City later than night with an impressive victory. The Oilers took on CIF San Diego Section Division 1 champion San Diego and crushed the host Cavers, 71-51, to advance to Saturday's second round. Huntington (26-5) jumped out to a 20-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and was in front, 38-27, at the half.

After that bang on my noggin two weeks ago, I felt I deserved a getaway. Vic agreed. We had never stayed at the historic Julian Gold Rush Hotel, so off we went for a weekend of old-fashioned relaxation. Julian, as most of you probably know, is a tiny San Diego County mountain town that time forgot. Main Street is about four blocks long. The town is pretty quiet during the week, but on weekends, the wooden sidewalks quiver under the weight of all the tourists standing in line in front of one of the bakeries for a slice of one of Julian’s famous apple pies.

City Council members did not discuss plans to replace Huntington Beach’s city administrator at their meeting this week, but are expected to do so later this month. City Administrator Penny Culbreth-Graft said Friday she had just accepted a job offer as city manager of Colorado Springs, Colo. She was one of three finalists for the position, including the city’s interim city manager. Culbreth-Graft must give 60 days notice to leave, making her last day of work Jan. 2. Her new job begins Jan. 7. City Council members have said they knew for quite some time that she was looking to move on. Culbreth-Graft’s move to the bigger city isn’t for a bigger salary, which will actually drop $16,000 to $210,000 a year in the new position.

This is not Katrina. We — Southern Californians, Orange County residents — are not surprised. We’ve seen this before (although, perhaps, not to this degree). We’ve felt the Santa Ana winds. We know about the drought conditions. They — from area officials to the governor to the president — have not denied, delayed or pointed fingers. And most importantly, our firefighters are performing tirelessly and heroically every step of the way. The wildfires that have engulfed Southern California from Santa Barbara County to San Diego County, and which include more than 18,000 acres of scorched earth in Orange County, are, to be sure, a tragedy of epic proportions.

It couldn't have been a better report card for City Administrator Penny Culbreth-Graft's annual performance review. Council members gave an overwhelming vote of confidence to Culbreth-Graft, 48, who joined the city in 2004 from Riverside. "Well, she's still our administrator," said Councilwoman Cathy Green. "It just seems that everything is moving forward," she said about ongoing projects in the city, including Pacific City, the Strand and the completion of the first phase of Bella Terra.

Huntington Beach advances to the semifinals in Pop Warner play; next up is San Diego County champ.The Huntington Beach Pee Wee Division Green Chargers advanced to the Western United States regional semifinals by defeating the Escondido Storm, 34-14, at San Clemente High Saturday. The win moves Huntington into a Saturday noon semifinal with the San Diego County champions, the Mount Helix Running Rebels, at La Jolla Country Day High. Saturday's winner moves on to the regional championship game Nov. 26 in Murrieta.

When Bill Sharp formed the Sumatra Surfzone Relief Operation earlier this year in response to the deadly South Asia tsunami, he figured he'd use his resources again after another coastal disaster. He just didn't think he'd be back in action so soon -- and so close to home. "We said there was no way this would ever happen in the United States. And then, boom, it happened," said Sharp, who organized the aid trip to Indonesia in January. "Who would have thought the two greatest coastal disasters in recent history would happen in a span of a few months?"

Dave Brooks Business leaders and elected officials retreated to San Diego County wine country last week to discuss the coming year in development and growth in Huntington Beach. The 24th annual Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce 2005 Planning Conference was a chance for small business owners, land consultants and corporate vice presidents to meet with Huntington Beach's cadre of City Council members and department heads at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook.